The present invention relates to a draw gear for an industrial vehicle such as a forklift truck.
The Japanese Utility Model Application Publication (KOKAI) No. 53-143312 discloses a draw gear for a forklift truck, wherein its counterweight is made having a part protruding rearward and the protruding rear part of the counterweight has an opening formed therein and upper and lower protrusions are formed on the top and bottom sides of the opening. The upper and lower protrusions of the counterweight have formed therethrough vertically extending holes through which a drawbar is inserted. These two drawbar insertion holes are enlarged in the portions thereof adjacent to the opening so as to permit the drawbar to be inserted into or drawn out from the holes in an oblique direction in installation or removal of the drawbar. In addition, a stop plate is provided above the counterweight for preventing drawbar from being slipped off the holes.
In the above prior art draw gear, however, since the length of the forklift truck body is increased rearward due to the protruding shape of the counterweight and therefore rear wheels of the forklift truck body are provided rearward, a turning radius of the forklift truck is increased thereby to degrade the maneuverability of the forklift truck. In addition, since the top portion of the counterweight above the protrusion is cut off in a large quantity to provide a space for the stop, the weight of the counterweight is reduced accordingly and, therefore, the load handling capacity of the forklift truck is reduced, thereby degrading the performance of the forklift truck. In order to prevent the performance degradation of the forklift truck, the counterweight needs to be enlarged, which will inevitably increase the body of the forklift truck. As stated earlier, two drawbar insertion holes formed in the protrusions are enlarged in the portions thereof adjacent to the opening to permit the drawbar to be inserted into or drawn out from the insertion holes. In order for the drawbar to be inserted in oblique direction into the holes smoothly, at least the upper insertion hole of the two holes needs to be formed large in size. If the insertion hole is made larger, the drawbar fitted in the holes will be supported only in an unstable manner.